Daniel Khalife: British Soldier Convicted of Spying for Iran

On September 6 last year, shortly after 07:30, Skye Vokins was driving on the dual carriageway south of Wandsworth Roundabout in London. To her astonishment, she observed a man drop onto the road from beneath the rear axle of a delivery truck that had halted at a pedestrian crossing ahead of her vehicle. “I saw him drop to the ground and then do a kind of pencil roll,” Ms Vokins recounted. The man then rose and proceeded slowly towards the nearest pavement. She added, “I remember him flicking his fringe back and behaving very casually – as if nothing had happened.” The individual was Daniel Khalife, a former British Army soldier who was incarcerated awaiting trial for espionage on behalf of Iran. He had just made his escape from HMP Wandsworth by clinging to the underside of the lorry, utilizing a makeshift sling fashioned from a pair of trousers. Earlier that morning, Khalife had been assigned duties in the prison kitchen. Upon the arrival of the daily food delivery lorry, he exited the kitchen and secured himself beneath the truck, partially obscured by its tail lift mechanism. As the lorry advanced towards the airlock, a secure zone situated between the prison’s inner and outer gates, Khalife overheard a kitchen staff member inquire: “Where is that young boy?” The lorry driver recalled hearing prison security personnel mention a missing person and stated that two guards inspected